best place to ground??

[BZA 10+ year member]

ive heard a lot of people say ground to the battery...so would that just mean connect the ground to the negative on the battery??? and if so, should it be fused?

ive just heard people say ur system performs best at 0...so im assuming ground to the negative...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif please correct me if im wrong. thanks.

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[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

any part of the cars frame is what I use

your BAT is already grounded though the engine which is grounded to the chasis

all will work - its not rocketscience

 

[tee 10+ year member]

Yes, just ground it to anything metal. Bare metal I should add.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

If you can measure the resistance between your grounding point and the battery negative terminal with a consumer grade DMM, it is a shitty ground. For an amp ground that is going to be carrying any real amount of current you should be looking for less than the resistance of your power wire. A consumer grade DMM can't measure the resistance of a 20ft piece of 1/0 power wire. If your ground resistance is higher than that of your power wire, your ground sucks.

Think about it this way: if your ground resistance it .1 ohms you lose 1V to your amp for every 10A that flow through the ground. A 44A draw would be enough to run most any amp into protection. 0.3 ohms? Seriously? Whoever wrote that above quote is a moron.

 

[PSturmer 10+ year member]

best ground would be a the neg post on a battery. this wire does not need to be fused. cars resistance is about equal to the resistance of a 4/0 gauge cable so i would recommend 1/0 for the ground.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

best ground would be a the neg post on a battery. this wire does not need to be fused. cars resistance is about equal to the resistance of a 4/0 gauge cable so i would recommend 1/0 for the ground.

I think you mean 4 gauge. Big difference between 4 and 4/0, really big.

 

[Ge0 10+ year member]

best ground would be a the neg post on a battery. this wire does not need to be fused. cars resistance is about equal to the resistance of a 4/0 gauge cable so i would recommend 1/0 for the ground.

I believe the best ground would be at the alternator, the source for all available electrical power when your vehicle is running. The alternator is tied to the engine block through large metal brackets. The engine block is strapped to the frame with a short 4ga or so jumper wire (as is the battery). The next best ground point is the frame.

Grounding to the frame will provide a lower resistance path to ground than a length of wire running from the amp back to the battery. Lower resistance means less voltage drop. In the long run, this means more power available for your amplifier.

Do the "big three" upgrade and you'll realize increased performance. Run a 1/0ga wire from your alternator to the frame. Also run one from your alternator to the battery.

Ge0

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

I think you mean 4 gauge. Big difference between 4 and 4/0, really big.

x2... average unibody vehicle has the resistance of a 4 gauge wire.

I believe the best ground would be at the alternator, the source for all available electrical power when your vehicle is running. The alternator is tied to the engine block through large metal brackets. The engine block is strapped to the frame with a short 4ga or so jumper wire (as is the battery). The next best ground point is the frame.

Best place to ground is the battery.

Grounding to the frame will provide a lower resistance path to ground than a length of wire running from the amp back to the battery. Lower resistance means less voltage drop. In the long run, this means more power available for your amplifier.

This is only true with wire smaller than 4 gauge. Average cars today have resistance equal to 4 gauge wire.

Do the "big three" upgrade and you'll realize increased performance. Run a 1/0ga wire from your alternator to the frame. Also run one from your alternator to the battery.

Look up the Big-3 in the electrical section.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

I just have triple frame ground for my front batteries and rear batteries, on the same frame rail...

nG

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

I just have triple frame ground for my front batteries and rear batteries, on the same frame rail...
nG

rails > sheetmetal //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[IgnoreMe 5,000+ posts]

If you can measure the resistance between your grounding point and the battery negative terminal with a consumer grade DMM, it is a shitty ground. For an amp ground that is going to be carrying any real amount of current you should be looking for less than the resistance of your power wire. A consumer grade DMM can't measure the resistance of a 20ft piece of 1/0 power wire. If your ground resistance is higher than that of your power wire, your ground sucks.
Think about it this way: if your ground resistance it .1 ohms you lose 1V to your amp for every 10A that flow through the ground. A 44A draw would be enough to run most any amp into protection. 0.3 ohms? Seriously? Whoever wrote that above quote is a moron.

not to mention they never even mentioned to disconnect the battery. since when do you test resistance on a powered circuit?